Apparatus for knitting seamless stockings



Sept. 12, 1933. NOBST ET AL 1,926,814

APPARATUS FOR KNITTING SEAMLESS STOCKINGS Filed Jan. 26,'1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 c9220eni0r:

M W W W- Sept. 12, 1933. NOBST r AL 1 32653 11 3 APPARATUS FOR KNITTING SEAMLESS STOCKINGS Filed Jan. 26, 1928 3 Sheets-Shem 2 172%67ZZ074 6,6079 M06125 13%;; Wa m Q, QM QM Sept. 12, 1933. G. NOBST ETAL 1,926,814

APPARATUS FOR KNITTING SEAMLESS STOCKINGS Filed Jan. 26, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 z'azskp raeedks Duty Iwel rzeedle: hzz yaavw' Patented Sept. 12,

' onus STAT S PA ENT OFFICE ments, to Scott & Williams Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Massachusetts Application January 26,1928, Serial No. 249,631, "and in Germany January 27, 1927 6 Claims. (o1. 6G'14)' This invention relates to method and apparatus for the manufacture of tubularfabricsuch as seamless stockings, and more particularlyto the formation of heel and toe pockets in such tubular 5 fabric. The invention is applicable to flat knitting machines having two beds, as well as to circular knitting machines, but it will be shown and described embodied in a circularknitting machine. 1

In making the heeland toe pockets of seamless stockings it is customary to knit the partial courses by a'to-and-fro or reciprocating movement, and the average speed of this reciprocation is necessarily lower than'the speed of roundfand round knitting. According to the present invention the heel and toe pockets, as well as all other parts of the stocking, are made by round-andround knitting.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a representation of oneform of sock knit in accordance with the present invention;

' Fig. 2 is a development of the interior of a cam cylinder illustrating the position of the parts, for knitting the stocking shown in Fig; 1, during the knitting of complete courses; I

Fig. Bis a development similar to Fig.- 2 showing the position of the parts when knitting partial courses in round-and-round knitting; i Fig. 4 is a vertical radial section; 0 Fig. 5 is a cam development of a machine having superposed concentric cylinders and using double ended needles; Fig. 5 is a composite diagrammatic section through the cam cylinder substantially on the Fig. 6 is a set of diagrams respectively" showing successive operations in making a stocking leg,

heel, and foot;

two stages corresponding to Fig. 6;.

Fig. 8 is an elevation illustrating the) fabric resulting from the method of knitting herein described and showing the gap atthe sideof the heel before the gap has been closed; and

has been closed.

For purposes of illustration theinvention will be shown embodied in a circular purl knittingmachine of the revolving cam cylinder type, such, for instance, as shown and described in our'pending application for United States patentSerial No. 223,135, filed Septemberl5, 1927, [Patent No. 1,720,606, July 9, 1929] and our applications for United States patent executed of 'evendateherewith, Serial No. 249,629 Pattern forming mech- Fig. 7 is a corresponding view of the product in Fig. 9 is a view similar toFig. 8after the gapv anism'for circular knitting machines and Serial No. 249,630, Control mechanism for circular knitting machines. This type'of machine has double endedneedles and two-part sliders for said needles' We will first describe the method'and apparatus for producing the stocking shown in Fig. 1, which involves the useof a selector wheel such as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 Thereafter we will describe the manufacture of the ordinary type of narrowed and widened seamless heel pocket by 'the use of the type of pneumatic jacquard control whichforms the subject matter of the above mentioned application, Serial No. 249,629, Pattern forming mechanism for circular knitting machines.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings,

the revolving cam cylinder'40'is provided with a cam ring 42 defining'a channel or path 47,here'- inafter referred to as the idle path,and a separate working path 48 positioned above the idle path. The butts 50 of the needles, or of their I two paths 47 and 48' converge in advance of the knitting cam to form a single path and immedi- There is the usual knitately behind the knitting cam, i. e., to the left as shown in .the drawings, the two paths separate once'more. To determine into which path the butts will flow after passing the point 52 ofthe knitting cam, there is a switch cam 54 pivotally mountedin the cam cylinder, so located that when swung upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, it will close the idle path and force the butts into the working path 48. When swung downwardly the butts will go into the idle path 47, as shown in Fig. 3. This jack and the top and bottom Walls of the recess in throcker jack. Thus when the rocker jack rises to the lower cam groove 47, after drawing the stitch, the needle is not raised to an equal amount by'reason of the lost, motion betweenv the parts, so that the book of the needle (when the rocker jack butt engages the idle groove 47) is below the yarn taking point and thus the needle continues to hold its previousstitch until its rocker jack is elevated by the pattern wheel.

To those skilled in the art a proper location of the yarn feed guide will beobvious to obtain this desired result, one such point being indicated, for example, at F in 5 Fig. 5, it being noted that it is not necessary to a groove 49 in which the butts ride when raisedby 1,026,206 dated May 14, 1912.

retract the hooks of the idle needles wholly below the cylinder verge in order to prevent them from taking the yarn, such an arrangement being'well known in the art asshown for example in the patent to Hirner, No. 1,062,910. Moreover, if the machine is to be employed solely for knitting tubular stockings having the improved'heel and toe construction as shown in Fig; 1, it is obvious that the upper cylinder may be. dispensed with entirely as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and that in that event the position of the yarn feed guide may be varied-within wide limits as will be obvious to those skilled in the art since the hooks of .needles elevated by the selector wheel are at a very substantial distance above the hooks of needles moving in the idle path. a

For the purpose of raising half of the butts to the working path 48 when itis desired to begin formation'of a heel or toe pocket, a toothed selector wheel 43 is provided. This selector wheel rotates at a diagonal or oblique relation to the cam cylinder, such that its circumference reaches from the lower path 4'7 to the upper path'48, the wheel being mounted in a slot 46 in the cam cylinder 40. The two cam paths are connected at this point by the wheel. This selector wheel may be of any usual construction, but it is shown and. described with teeth arranged vertically with relation to the cam cylinder and forming notches thcrebetween which correspond in number with the number of needles in the needle cylinder. This pattern wheel is shown and described in detail in the above mentioned application for United States patent, Serial No. 249,630 for Control mechanism for circular knitting machines. In carrying out the method of the present invention by' means of the use of this selector wheel, slugs or fillers 45 are placed in the bottom of theslots around one half the periphery of the wheel and the other slots are left open. It will be obvious that when a butt comes in contact with the slot containing such a slug, the continued rotation of the cam cylinder will cause the butt to be pushed upwardly into the working path 48, while if the butt registers with a slot open at the bottom, it will turn the wheel but will itself remain in the lower or idle path 47. The wheel is therefore adapted when partially filled with slugs, as above described, to raise half the butts to theworking path and leave the other half in the idle path and this separation is availed of in making a heel or toe pocket according'to the method now being all the butts in the working path 48, all the needles are in active operation and the leg is knit in the usual manner. .When the instep b is reached the machine does not change to reciprocatory knitting, as heretofore, but continues its roundand-round movement at the high speed which is possible for round-and-round knitting and the switch cam 54 is thrown down out of action as shown in Fig. 3. The butts of the needles, jacks or sliders, as the case may be, as they come from under the point 52 of the knitting cam 51 will then go into the idle path 4'7 and passing along in that path will encounter the selector wheel 43. The half of the needles which register with slots havingslugs 45 therein will thereupon cause the pattern wheel to raise them to the working path 48 in which position the needles in the needle cylinder will receive yarn for new stitches. The needles which register with open slots turn the pattern wheel, and remaining in the idle slot 4'7 hold the loops last drawn thereon. This selection of half of the knitting instrumentalities by the pattern wheel, continues for a number of courses (for example, Fig. 7, from the course a, b, k, where knitting was suspended, to form the heel strip b, d, e, h, g, k) until-sufficient fabric for tl1e heel has been knit, the yarn being floated across from one end of the active segment of needles to the other at each course, as shown at II, Fig. 6. 1 It will be noted that the stitches thus knit by the end needles of this active segment-during the knitting of .these partial courses, are not inter- ,looped in any way with the stitches held on the inactive semi-circle of needles and short gaps b, d,- e, h are therefore formed at each side of the heel. The edges of these gaps may be stitched together in any desired manner after the completion of the stocking as shown at '0, Figs. 1 and 9, for example. After the completion of the instep portion 22 of the heel the switch cam 54 again closes the idle path 47, and all the butts are raised to the active path 48, whereupon the knitting of complete courses is resumed, forming the foot. The toe pocket is formed in exactly the same manner as the heel pocket, the knitting of complete courses being resumed, after the formation of suflicient fabric for the toe, and thereafter sufiicient complete courses are knit to complete a stocking of thedesircd size, and to provideextra courses before knitting the neat stocking,the

tion for United States patent, Serial No. 249,629,

filed January 26, 1928, Pattern forming mechanis'm for circular knitting machines. In following out this method holes are punched in the jacquard card wherever and whenever it is desired that the needle should knit, and it will be obvious that by progressively changing the number of holes .the active segment of needles can be progressively decreased-and thenincreased. It will be observed that by the use of the jacquard typeof control in connection with our method it is possible to progressively narrow and widen on the active segment of needl s during round-andround knittii-ig,.-not only at the leading end of the activesegment but also at the following or rear end of the segment.

Referring to the drawings, the circular purl knitting machine illustrated includes a lower needlecylinder r and an upper needle cylinder u superposed thereon and suitable cam cylinders with provision for relative movement of rotation between said needle and cam cylinders, the

cam cylinder as shown being the rotatoryelementi- Double ended needles" eare arranged to slide longitudinally in the alignedtricks of said cylinders and their: movement is controlled bywmeans of 1 suitable jacks or sliders each comprisinga pusher s and a hook, as f and j said hooksbeingrprm' vided with butts 1503and151 respectively. A cam cylinder encircles theneedle cylinders r and u and includes a lowercam 'ring:42; definingsa pathadapted to coact with :thehook butts in the lower cylinder 1 and an upperzcam"ring4lidefiningxa pathadapted tocoact' with hook butts in the upper cylinder u. Inthe formof 'deviceillustrated in Figs.4 and 5, thexlowercam ring 42 is provided with separate butt" engaging and guid-' ing paths which converge. adjacentito the work-- ing face of a knitting cam 5l'and form around the end of said cam a single path.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the upper end of'each.

hook *f is providedwith'a slot or recess 10 adapt ed to receive and retain one, end ofthe harness thread forming. part. of ajacquard mechanism more fully. described in our said application Serial No. 249,629, filed January. 26; 1928.

As illustrated-in Fig. 5, and as more fully described in our: Patent No. 1,720,606, we provide the adjustable switch cam 1), which under normal circumstances is aligned with the bottom of the cam groove-47', but which may be raised to in- .portion of the circumference of the cam cylinof beveled or inclined section. Thus as the jacks wardly away from the needle cylinder.

der (Fig. 5*, Section D) the cam element 1 abovev the groove 4'7 and the cam element 3 below'the groove 4'7 have inclined or beveled faces, as also indicated at the left side of Fig. 4, which permit the hook ends of the jacks to swing cut At the same portions of the cam cylinderthe cam elements' 2 and 4 which engage the tails of the jacks are of substantially rectangular cross section in any radial plane, as shown at the left-hand side 'of Fig. 4 so as positively to -maintain the jacks rocked on their pivot points into inoperative position, that is tosay, with their hook ends outwardly away from the needles. However, at

; about the radial plane indicated by the line AA (Fig. 5) the element 1 in the lower part of the cam cylinder merges into a portion 1 which is substantially rectangular, while the element 2 merges into a portion 2 which is beveled or inclined. As a jack of the lower series passes theplane A, the cam elements 1 and 2 swing the jack so that its head moves radially inward to a position to engage the hooks of a needle properly positioned to receive it.

On the other hand, the cam element 3 of the upper portion of the cam cylinder at substantial ly the plane BB which is ahead of the plane AA, merges into a part 3 of rectangular section (Fig. 5, Section B-B), while the cam element 4 at the same plane merges into apart 4 of the upper series pass the plane B-B, their heads or hook portions begin to swing inwardly into a position to engage the hook of a needle, but since the plane B-B is in advance of the plane Ae-A in the direction of rotation of the 0am cylinder; the jacks of the upper'series are, under ordinary circumstances, swung. into opera-tive position before those of the lower. series and thus needles'engaged by the upper jacks are moved by the-upper jack actuating cam 51 and. carried out of the range of the hooks of thellower jacks as the latter are swung inwardly at: the plane AA.

We claim:

l; Mechanism for controlling the actuating butts of knitting instrumentalities in hosiery knitting machines, comprising a cam cylinder having a stitch cam therein and separate butt engaging paths converging in advance of the stitch cam to form a single path whereby said I camretracts the actuating butts of allof. the; needles, one of said paths being a working path. and the other arr-idle path, said latter path be-- ing so arranged'that needles controlled by butts disposed therein fail to receive a freshyarn in their hooks at the feeding'point, incombination with means mounted on the cam cylinder for 'se-. lectively engaging the same segment of the butts in oneof saidpaths and moving. them into. the;

other path at each courseof successive courses.

2. .Acircular' hosiery kniting machine provided" Withtacam cylinder. havinga. stitch cam'therein" and separate paths adapted to guide the. actuating butts of knitting instrumentalities, one of an idle path, said latter path being so arranged that needles controlled by butts disposed therein fail to receive a fresh yarn in their hooks at the feeding point, said paths converging into a sinsaid paths being a working path and the other gle path in advance of the stitch cam arranged to guide the butts into effective contact with the stitch cam, whereby said cam retracts the actuating butts of all of the knitting instrumentalities, means mounted in said cylinder for selectively engaging a segment of the butts of heel and 1 15 toe knitting instrumentalities for moving them from the idle path to the working path at each course of successive courses, in combination with a movable cam located on the opposite side 'of the stitch cam from said selective means and 2 adapted in one of its positions to close the entrance to one of said paths.

' 3. Needle actuating mechanism for use in making tubular hosiery on a circular machine having needles and at least one actuating butt for each needle, comprising a stitch cam, a cam cylinder having separate butt engaging paths which converge to form a single path at a point in advance of the stitch cam so that said cam acts to retract the actuating butts of all of the needles, one

of said paths being a'working path and the other an idle path, said latter path being so arranged that needles controlled by butts disposed therein fail to receive a fresh yarn in their hooks at the feeding point, means, at one side of the stitch v cam, operative repeatedly at successive courses for selectively moving a segment of the series of butts from the idle path into the working path and means at the other side of said cam for moving all butts out of said single path and into one 1 path and the other an idle path, said latter path being so arranged that needles controlled by butts disposed therein fail to receive a fresh yarn at the feeding point, said paths converging into a single path in advance of the stitch cam arranged to guide the butts into eifective engagement with the stitchcam whereby said cam retracts the actuating butts of all of the knitting instrumentalities, and means including pattern controlled devices for determining the number of needles to be moved in the working path to form stitches during each course of heel and toe knitting.

5'. A circular hosiery knitting machine of the kind having a series of independent knitting instrumentalities'provided with actuating butts and in which the relative movement of rotation of the knitting instrumentalities and their actuating cams is always in the same direction, said machine comprising a cam cylinder, a-stitch cam therein and separate paths adapted to guide the butts of. knitting instrumentalities, onerof said paths being a working path and the other an idle path, said latter path being so arranged that needles controlled by butts disposed therein fail to receive a fresh yarn at the feeding point, said paths converging into a single path in advance of the stitch cam and adapted to guide the butts for determining the number of needlesentering the working path to form stitches during each course ofheel and toe knitting. 6. A circular independent needle hosiery ma chine of the class described, having needle jacks and needles, and means for moving the needles,

and jacks successively past a yarn feeding point,

cam means comprising a cam ring having therein a single stitch cam for moving the jacks to cause. their needles individually to form loops, means to: throw the instep segment of needles out of action;

during the formation of a single course of loops whileretaining their loops and for continuing to knit round-and-round on all of the needles of the remaining segment to form a section of fabric of substantially uniform width for a heel pocket;

and means for restoring the instep segment of needles to action during the formation of a single course of loops and for thereafter continuing round-and-round knitting.

4 GEORG NOBST..

ERNST ULBRICHT. 

